Town of Sharon Planning Board

Meeting Minutes of 11/03/10

Amended and Approved on 1/19/11

Sharon Community Center

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Planning Board Attendees

Susan Price, Chair

Anne Bingham, Clerk

Eli Hauser, Vice Chair 

Amanda Sloan  - Absent

David Milowe - Absent

Peter O’Cain, Town Engineer

 

Attendees

Michael Gelbwasser – Sharon Patch

 

 

Chair Report

Chair Price called the meeting to order at 7:58 PM and read the Chair’s Report. Ms. Bingham read the letter from Attorney Cindy Amara from the 10/20/10 meeting, regarding Mr. Hauser entitled “Non Profit Board Member – Conflict of Interest Opinion” as well as a letter from the State Ethics Commission regarding the same matter.

 

Form A’s

Mr. O’Cain reported there was no form A’s but that Tedeschi’s may be filing a site plan and they would be attending the next meeting to present to the Board. Mr. O’Cain reported that their request has to do with the façade of the building, changing the signage and the gas pumps. He said that everything is non-conforming to P.O. Square regulations as it is commercial work.

 

Meeting Minutes

Review of the 10/20 minutes was postponed until next meeting.

 

Bella Estates

Mr. O’Cain stated there are still financial items pending for Bella Estates. Permits are on hold for this property. The Estrin fence issue is still unresolved. Regarding the bond, Mr. O’Cain stated that he had received an email from Mr. Shelmerdine but had not yet had a chance to review it.

 

Pre Town Meeting

Ms. Price stated she attended the pre warrant Town Meeting regarding Article 1. She also told the Board that Article 3 had the Planning Board listed as the proponent when it should have been the Board of Selectmen. She has a call into Lisa Whalen to discuss.

 

Housing Production Plan

Ms. Price reported that the Housing Production Plan needs to be completed by the end of December and that Jenny Raitt of MAPC would be attending the 11/17 meeting to discuss. Ms. Raitt had sent out an email containing specific questions and Ms. Price coordinated the response back to her in preparation for the meeting. 

 

Mr. Hauser stated he would be unable to attend the meeting of 11/17/10 and suggested that Ms. Raitt be told about Sharon Commons and the potential number and types of residences. He said there are 29 approved units and there will be 168 when complete; with approximately 117 affordable units. Mr. O’Cain said he will email Ms. Raitt a spreadsheet of the conceptual development. Mr. Hauser commented that the Delappa property, Shaw’s Plaza and a dozen parcels around town could be built upon. These are all ideas to explore. He also said he thinks a lot of properties will be Form A’s and believes redevelopment will start. It is incremental and we need to get ahead of the curve he said.

 

Sacred Heart Reuse Committee

Mr. Hauser said he joined the nonprofit organization Cornerstone with his friend Dan Rosen. Cornerstone has submitted an RFP to the Sacred Heart Reuse Committee to create a living environment for autistic adults that are 22 years of age and older. The idea is to build an organization of 50 -100 people so that they can economically build a real institution with staff, provide the community with infrastructure, and create a charter and Board of Directors.

Mr. Hauser said he spoke with Attorney Gelerman's office who advised that it the most conservative approach to avoiding conflict of interest issues is that he step down from the Economic Development Committee since both the Economic 0evelopment  and the Sacred Heart Reuse Committee are appointed by and report into the Board of Selectmen. The goal of Sacred Heart Reuse Committee is to create a pool for the Town. Mr. Hauser said the YMCA is on board with Cornerstone to run and staff a pool.

Ms. Price asked how it works in terms of 40 B and Mr. Hauser replied that it is a nursing home by definition. Every resident is considered an affordable unit. The target is 8 residents in each of 8 cottage type homes, so there would be 64 residents and therefore 64 affordable units. If the property is zoned with a 40R overlay, a $267,000 cash payment would be available by the state to the Town.

There is a challenge with the septic and zoning and this will all be expanded on. At this point they want to determine if this plan is attractive to the community. Mr. Hauser said it will do a lot of social good. The YMCA had put together the proposal for a family and lap pool. No formal plans have been created as of yet. They need 5 million dollars to build and about 5 million dollars for a capital endowment.

 

Mr. O’Cain reported that the number one priority expressed by the Town residents in the open space questionnaire was a pool.

 

 

Other Business

Mr. Hauser and Ms. Price discussed a potential grant for $10,000 to be used for planning. They suggested doing a signage plan perhaps with the Historical Society around P.O. Square listing the historical sites or create signs for a path to the lake.

 

 Next meeting dates

11/17, 12/1, 12/15 and 1/4.

 

Adjournment

Ms. Bingham moved to adjourn the Planning Board meeting at 8:50 PM. Mr. Hauser seconded the motion and the Board voted 3-0-0 in favor.

 

Attached Documents

1. October 12th, 2010 letter from State Ethics Commission

2. October 8th, 2010 letter from Gelerman, Buschmann & Jeter, P.C. re: Non profit Board Member – Conflict of Interest Opinion